Outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus



S. J. LEVINE July. 20, 1943. v

OUTLET GRILLE FOR AIR CONDITIONING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 2, 1941Inventor:

Samuel-J. Levine, v fl ad His Attorney.

Patented July so. 1943 OUTLET GRILLE FOR AIR CONDITIOfilNG' v APPARATUSSamuel J. Levine, Verona, N. 8., assignortto General Electric Company,

York

a corporation of New Application January 2, 1941, Serial No. swam aclaims. (CI. 98-40) My invention relates to-outlet grilles for airconditioning apparatus and the like and particularly to adjustableoutlet grilles forselectively determining the direction of airdischarged into a room from the outletof an air conditioning apparatus,

It is often desirable to change the direction of air discharged into aroom from air heating or' cooling apparatus in order to obtain thegreatest advantage of the discharged stream in circulating air about theroom with maximum comfort to the occupants in the room. For example, itI may be desirable to change the direction of the discharge streamdepending upon the temperature of the dischar ed air. When employing airconditioning units which may be placed in difierent positions in theroom, it may, for example,

be desirable to discharge air at one angle when the conditioner isarranged to blow the air lengthwise of the room, and in anotherdirection when it is arranged to blow the air in a direction crosswiseto the room. 7 It is desirable that the change of direction of .airdischarge be effected without the necessity of altering or taking apartportions of the apparatus.

It is an object of my invention to provide an outlet grille for airconditioning apparatus and or louver members arranged to constitute. ineffect, two sets, one set tending to direct the all discharged from theopening in one direction and the other set tending to direct thev air inanother direction. The air is discharged through only one set of vanesat a time and an elongated bar or other operating member is provided forshield-L ing the set not in use. The bar is pivotally mounted so that itmay be swung in either of two positions to select the desired directionof discharge of the air. 1

Referring now to the drawing. in, Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown an airconditioning unit ll muted to be mounted on the floor of a room andhaving a fresh air inlet duct Ii for connection with a window openingand a conditionedfair outlet comprising two openings I! as indicated inFig. 2 for discharging air into the room. The outlet is formed in asuitable frame II constituting a portion of the outer casing of the unitll. Within the casing of the unit l0 there may be arranged the usualelements of an air conditioning apparatus, including a motor and ablower (not shown), a filter i4, and a heat exchanger ll. Furthermore,it is common practice to provide an inlet foradmltting to the casing airfrom the room which may be mixed with the fresh air and the likeincluding an improved arrangement for determining selectively thedirection in which air is to be discharged from the outlet. 1

Further objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds, and the features of novelty whichcharacterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in theclaims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may be had to theaccompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is an end elevation viewparticularly in section of a portion of an air condl tioning unithavingan outlet grille embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is afrontelevation view of the unit shown in Fig. '1; Fig. 3 is an enlargedsectional view of the unit shown in Figs. 1 and 2 i on the line 3-3 ofFig.2; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the operating member of thegrille shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing amodified form of my invention; andFig. 6 is a perspective view of theoperating member of the grille shown in Fig. 5.

The outlet grille shown in the drawing comprises generally a frame,casing or other suitable member in which is formed an elongated outletopening adjacent oneedge thereof and in which are arranged a pluralityof elongated vanes circulated through the casing and over the heatexchanger. Theheat exchanger II, as illustrated, comprises a suitablecoll provided with heat transfer fins lid and through which my be'circulated a heating or acoollng medium.

After the air has passed over the heat exchanger y IE, it is dischargedthrough the outlet and into the room. .Within the openings I! areprovided a plurality of louver members orvanes II which tend to forcethe discharged air to pass out of the openings at predeterminedangles... '1'he vanes it. as illustrated, are thin, flat strips orslats. the edges of adjacent vanes being parallel but the flat sidesbeing arranged at anglessultable to direct the air passing through thefront and back of openings II at 'diflerent angles. -The' vanesassociated with each opening may be arranged in two sets, the vanes ineach set having their net sides parallel and all the vanes'oi' one setbeing at the same angle with respect to the vanes of theother set.However, I Preler to arrange the vanesfso that their not sides lie inradial planes passing through. a common axis. when the vanes arearranged in this manner, the successive vanes from right to left. asviewed in 1 Figs. 1 and 8, directthe air more away from the vertical. Byarrangin the "vanes. to direct the air successively more away from thevertical.

within the frame l3on pins II at either end thereof. The member I! hasbeen shown as an elongated bar or channel member mounted on arms I9 ateither end thereof which are pivoted "on pins iii. The bar Il may be ineither of two. positions. In Fig. 1 it has been shown in a position toshield the two left hand vanes l8. and in Fig. 3 it has been shownshielding the two right hand vanes. The central or middle vane l3coasaaeee moved from its left hand position as shown in Fig. 5 toward aright hand position in which the arm 26 is substantially vertical.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have provided" a simpleand effective arrangement for selectively determining the direction ofair to be discharged from the outlet grille of an With this arrange- 1air conditioning apparatus. ment it is unnecessary to provide adjustablevanes or louvers and the adjustment may be made instantly without theuse of tools and without the necessity of bending or turning parts ofthe grille.

While I have shown my invention in connection with an air conditioningunit adapted to be operates with either of the twosets or pairs ofmounted on the floor, other applications will outsideyanes; this gnakesit unnecessary to shield an entire half of the opening, and the bar II,in fact, covers only about one-third of the opening. The middle vane is,therefore. in a somewhat neutral location. When the bar I1 is in theleft hand position, as shown in Fig. l, the direction of the airdischarged through the openings I2 is more to the vertical than whenthebar is in a position as shown in Fig. 3, and the right and left handgroups of vanes thus constitute two,

formed in a portion 22 of the frame l3 between the two openings i2. Thebar I! is thus arranged to shield those vanes which are not to be used.

During the operation of the air conditioning unit shown in Fig. 1, whenit is desired to direct the air in a substantially upright direction,the handle is positioned to place the bar I! for wardly as indicated inFig.1; and when it is desired to direct the discharged air forward fromthe unit, the handle 2| is moved to place the bar I! in its positiontoward the rear as shown in Fig. .3 so that the air is directedforwardly by striking the left hand vanes i8. 3

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated another embodiment of my invention whichmakes it possible to select any of a plurality of groups 'of the vanesl6 so that the direction of the air may be varied progressively from oneside of the outlet to the other. Fig. 5 is similar to Fig; 3 andcorresponding parts have been designated by the same numerals. In thisconstruction I have provided a segmental readily be apparent to thoseskilled in the art. I do not therefore desire my invention to be limitedto the particular constructions shown and described and I intend in theappended claims to cover all modifications within the spirit and scopeof my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is:

1. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the likecomprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality of vanesassociated with said opening, said vanes being arranged in two sets, oneset for directing air flowing through the opening in one direction andthe other set for directing the air in a different direction, and meansincluding amember movable into either of two positions to shield one ofsaid sets of vanes in'one position and the other of said sets in itssheet metal member 23 having an elongated opening 24 inthe centralportion thereof through which the air is discharged toward the vanes It,the opening 29 being of less width than the openings l2. The member 23is pivoted at 25 on arms 23 so that it may be arranged withthe opening24 in any desired position below the vanes Hi to select a particulargroup of the. vanes It. A suitable handle (now shown) similar to thehandle 20 extending through the slot 2| of Fig. 3 may be provided tomove the member 23 to its desired position. The construction of themember 23 is more clearly shown in Fig. 6 where it will be seen that thecorners have been cut away as indicated at 21 so that the member 23 maybe moved past the end plates of the heat exchanger IS, the fins beingsufficiently far back of the end plates that other position forselectively determining the direction of' flow of air discharged throughthe opening.

2. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the likecomprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality of vanesassociated with said opening, said vanes being arranged in two sets, oneset for directing air flowing through the opening in one direction andthe other set for directing the air in a different direction, and meansincluding a bar swingably mounted to be movable into either of twopositions to shield one of said sets. of vanes in one position and theother of said sets in its other position for selectively determining thedirection of flow of air discharged through the opening.

3. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the likecomprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality ofelongated flat vanes associated with said opening, the flat sides ofsaid vanes being arranged in substantially radial planes with respecttoa common axis and being arranged so that the direction ofithe airpassing through said opening is varied progressively from one side ofthe opening to the other, and means including a member movable intoeither of two positions to shield a portion of the vanes at one side ofthe opening in one position and a portion of said vanes at the otherside of said opening in its other position for selectively determiningthe direction of flow of air disgressively toward the vertical as thedamper is air in a different direction, and means including a barswingably mounted to be movable into either of two positions to shieldone of said sets of vanes in one position and the other of said sets inits other position for selectivelydetermining the direction or flow ofair discharged through the opening.

5, A cabinet for air conditioning apparatus and the like, comprising asubstantially'rectangular casing having an elongated opening extendingparallel to and adjacent one edge thereof, a plurality of elongated flatvanes mounted in said opening andhaving their longitudinal edgesparallel mounted, said vanes being arranged to constitute two sets, theflat sides 0! the vanes of one set being arranged to direct the air atone predetermined angle irom said opening and the flat sides of thevanes 01 the other set being arranged to direct the air at anotherpredetermined angle from said opening, and means including an elongatedmember pivotally mounted within said casing to be movable into either oftwo positions to shield oneo! said sets of vanes in its first positionand the other of said sets or vanes in its second position forselectively determining the angle at which air isto be discharged iromsaid 6. An outlet grille for air conditioning apparatus and the likecomprising a member providing an outlet opening, a plurality ofelongated flat vanes associated with said opening, the flat sides ofsaid vanes being arranged in substantially radial planes with respect toa common axis and being arranged so that the direction of the airpassing through said opening diflers progressively from one side of theopening to the other, and means including a movable damper member havingan elongated opening therein 01 a width less than that of said outletopening for selectively determining the direction of flow oi! airdischarged from said outlet opening.

SAMUEL J. mzvmm.

